Welcome to Our School!

Transcription

1 Teacher p.1

2 Teacher p.2 For this task, students are put in the role of creating a product (booklet, pamphlet or poster) that could be shared with new students to help them understand what makes their school special. They will read, listen to and view material to learn about teachers and students at a fictitious school, and how they help new students feel welcome. As they complete this task, students will: create a plan; organize and record information; communicate information; and reflect on accomplishments. This task is not designed to measure independent reading skills. Therefore, teachers should feel free to read any of the printed materials (student task, teacher webpage, comic strip, bulletin board posters) that have been developed to help students get ideas to complete this task. This task would likely be administered over two days. On the first day, students might complete pages 2 to 6 in the student booklet. On the second day, students would create their products and complete their self-reflections (pages 7 and 8). As information is shared with the students, teachers are encouraged to engage in a classroom discussion. Sample questions have been provided, and teachers may add other questions to further the discussion. Student Booklet, p.2 Introduce the task to the students by reading the following text from page 2 aloud while students follow along silently. Each year new families move to our community and to our school. We want them to feel welcome. You are going to create a booklet, pamphlet or poster to share with new students to help them understand what makes our school special. First we are going to read, listen and watch to learn about children and teachers at Evergreen School, and how they help new students feel welcome. You will find out about learning new things; having fun at school; and special people and places in the school. Have students view the video of Taylor, who is talking to her dad about how she feels as she gets ready to go to a new school. Questions for discussion: How do you think Taylor is feeling about going to a new school? If she was coming to your class, what are some things you could do to make her feel welcome? Have students view the slide show by Jake, who is sharing a tour of his school. Question for discussion: How is Evergreen School like our school? How is it different?

3 Teacher p.3 Student Booklet, pp. 3 and 4 Have students follow along as you read the teacher s welcome letter from the classroom webpage: Welcome to Room 4! I know we are going to have a wonderful year together, learning new things and making new friends. Here are some of the things we will do this year: go on field trips play sports in the gym and on the playground read books together and on our own do exciting science activities There are important things for you to remember, to help make our time together as good as it can be. Always do your very best work. Be ready to help others when they need your help. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. Come to school every day ready to learn. This is going to be the best year ever! Questions for discussion: What special things happen in our classroom? Look again at the important things to remember. How are they similar to what we consider important? How do these help us learn and get along with each other? Have students view the posters on the bulletin board. Question for discussion: What are some of the special events and activities that happen at our school? Read the comic strip together. Panel 1: It s my first day. I wonder if I ll like it here? Panel 2: Don t worry; you ll feel at home in no time! Panel 3: Come play soccer with us. Panel 4: There s room to eat at our table. Panel 5: I remember building boats last year. Panel 6: Thanks. I had a great day. Question for discussion: What are some things the teacher and students are doing to help this new student feel welcome?

4 Teacher p.4 Student Booklet, p. 5 Make a Plan Have students follow along as you read them the instructions for making a plan: Think about what you have learned about Evergreen School. What things are the same at your school? What things are different? You are going to complete a project to help new students understand what makes our school special. Use the ideas from Evergreen School. Add some ideas of your own. You will need to use words and pictures to share your ideas. Choose a way to communicate your ideas. Your project could be a booklet, a pamphlet, or a poster. Have blank samples of a small booklet, a tri-fold pamphlet and a poster for students to view. Have students complete the questions on page 5 in their student booklets. Which of these will you choose? Why did you decide to use this way to share the information? What will your next steps be?

5 Teacher p.5 Student p. 6 Choose an Organizer: This task requires students to choose an organizer on which to record information. You should not make this choice for them. You will need to have multiple copies of different graphic organizers available. Three possible organizers have been provided to you. If your students are familiar with other suitable graphic organizers, be prepared to offer those as well. Have students follow along as you read them the instructions for choosing an organizer: Think about graphic organizers you have used to organize information. Choose a way to organize the information that you will be sharing with a new student. I will give you a copy of the organizer that you would like to use. Notice that the organizers provided already have the three categories (learning new things, having fun at school, special people and places in the school) identified on the page. Each organizer also has space for an additional category. Students may have ideas of their own, or select ideas from what was shared, that they feel do not fit the given categories. This allows students, if they choose, to have a fourth category.

6 Teacher p.6 Student p. 6 (continued) Organize and Record Your Information Once students have selected an organizer, they are ready to begin recording and organizing their information. Have students follow along as you read them the instructions for organizing and recording information. Now it s time to go back to read, watch and listen again to what has been shared about Evergreen School. Remember that your project needs to share information about learning new things; having fun at school; and special people and places in the school. Use the graphic organizer to record the information you want to include in your project. Remember to record key ideas in your own words when you are using the information from the students and teachers from Evergreen School. Then add some ideas about your own school. Your teacher will need to see your completed graphic organizer. Ensure the video and slide show are accessible for repeated viewing if students wish to do so. Provide as much time as you feel is reasonable for students to complete this part of the task. Note: You may decide to do the last parts of the task (create the product and reflect) on a second day.

7 Teacher p.7 Student p. 7 Create Your Project For students to complete this part of the task, they will need to be provided with the necessary materials to create a booklet, pamphlet or poster. For example, the booklet might consist of one or two letter-sized sheets of paper, folded in half. The pamphlet might be a legal-sized sheet of paper, folded into thirds (tri-fold). Possible templates for the booklet and pamphlet have been provided to you. Have students follow along as you read them the instructions for creating a project. Now it s time to create your project! Your teacher will give you the materials you need. Use your completed graphic organizer to help you remember what you are going to write. Remember that you need to tell the new student about learning new things; having fun at school; and special people and places in the school. Be sure to use words and pictures that will be interesting for your audience. Encourage students to get as many of their ideas as possible in writing first, before doing any illustrations. Check Your Work When you see that some students are nearing the completion of their products, remind them to check their work. Before you finish, check that your work makes sense and will be interesting for the new student. Also check to see if you have used capital letters at the beginning of each sentence. punctuation at the end of each sentence. your best spelling.

8 Teacher p.8 Student p. 8 Think about Your Learning Once students have completed their projects, draw their attention to the questions on page 8 in their student booklets. Before completing page 8, have students turn to a partner and talk about the three questions. Note: Be prepared to have a reflective conversation with students who are unable to complete these questions in writing. How did you make your project interesting? How will your project be helpful to a new student? What is another thing you could do when a new student comes to our class?